Duels of Honour: Giving the Lie
Author's note:
This story contains spoilers for "Cross Blades," "Twin Blades" and "Taking the Steel."
It is set after "Mercenary Hearts," but does not contain spoilers for that story much beyond those you'll already find in "Cross Blades."
"Mercenary Hearts" is still in edits, so I decided to begin putting this up in the meantime.
This story – and/or Mercenary Hearts – will update monthly.
I feel that updating monthly, regularly, is better than trying to update weekly and putting out a sub-par story or constantly being late.
"Duels of Honour" is a duology, composed of two related stories. "Giving the Lie" is the first of those two. Both have several chapters.
Enjoy! I appreciate reviews, even if it's simply to say you enjoy the stories.
Chapter the First: Suspicions
Usze 'Taham, Senior Sangheili Ambassador to Earth, stood on the tarmac of the Human airbase, waiting for Admiral Rtas 'Vadum's Phantom to land. His cream-coloured pearly armour shone in the sun; his doarmir-fur cloak fluttered in the breeze. He wished he could feel the cool air through the face-covering assault helmet that he wore. He shifted his weight to his right leg and tucked his cane behind his back; he'd need it eventually, but he didn't want Rtas' first impression of him to be one of pity.
Six months after the final Battle of the Halos, the Arbiter had returned to Earth, with his bondmate Rtas by his side, to continue to forge relations between the Sangheili and the Humans. In the upcoming weeks, Usze knew that the Arbiter would be speaking to the Human governments with a goal to opening trade, limited travel, and further diplomatic ties, including the appointment of the first Human ambassadors to Sanghelios.
Right now, though, the carrier Shadow of Intent, piloted by the infamous Shipmaster Fil Storamy, had been cleared to an orbit around Earth. The Arbiter's first stop was in Kenya, where so much of the final battle had been fought. Usze's husband, Junior Ambassador N'tho 'Sraom, had flown to Africa to greet the Arbiter's Phantom there.
Usze was not entirely pleased with the idea. He didn't like to let N'tho out of his sights. N'tho had once had quite a reputation for sleeping around, and he also had a tendency to let senior officers push him around. N'tho had once borne a Mark of Punishment due to his grandfather's cowardice, and so there was a reason for his weaknesses, but Usze still worried that N'tho would return to his old habits without Usze around to keep him in line.
Usze, unlike N'tho, was very good at controlling himself.
At least the Arbiter—who had a bit of a reputation himself—had a bondmate now. Usze hoped the crew of his Phantom were similarly paired off…
He gritted his mandibles. He had to learn to trust his mate. N'tho had been nothing but faithful since he'd put his bracelet around N'tho's wrist six months ago…
…how hard is that on an alien world where the only other Sangheili are N'tho's father Piro, Piro's wife, and two little girls? Even Nitro won't cross the species line, and there are no eligible Sangheili, male or female, anywhere around…
…until now.
Usze clenched his hand into a fist around his cane, wondering to the gods why it was so hard for him to have a little faith.
As the Phantom's door opened, he realized that he no longer believed in the gods.
*
Rtas 'Vadum straightened his armour and wished to all the Ancestors that he, and the Arbiter, were back in their home in Iruiru rather than here on Earth.
Rtas would be the first to admit that he didn't particularly like Earth, or its dominant species, the Humans. He could not deny that the Humans had their particular skills, and that they even possessed some admirable traits, but he just didn't like them. Their short necks, stubby fingers, and flat faces were grotesque; he shuddered at the idea of having hair, like a Brute. They chattered like animals, always sticking their noses into everything. They were rude, so disrespectful to their superiors, so forward and self-important. And the smell…
Rtas took a deep breath. Prejudices aside, there was another reason he didn't want to be on Earth.
He and the Arbiter hadn't had a lot of personal time together lately. The dual challenges of rebuilding a society at home and conducting a war against the surviving Brutes and the renegade Sangheili under Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattin were exhausting. And then…
…breeding season.
It was every adult Sangheili's responsibility to mate at least once every other year. Rtas hated breeding season because he didn't like females. Not that he didn't respect them as people—he was on good enough terms with Fil Storamy, for instance—but he just didn't find them sexually attractive. To have to grit his teeth and mate with them was disgusting to him. Trying to find a sympathetic female was a real challenge, and even if he did…well…
He didn't expect his friendship with Fil to survive unscathed.
But mating season was not a new problem for him. He'd found it unpleasant ever since he came of age.
No, his concern with mating season this year was the Arbiter. The Arbiter had never had any trouble with females. Quite the opposite. The Arbiter liked females as much as he liked males. And as the acting Sangheili leader until the Council's vote next year, the Arbiter's services were very much in demand. It was enough to make the Arbiter's mate very…
…very…
…jealous.
Rtas tried to tell himself that the breeding law had not yet been repealed, and the Arbiter was simply fulfilling his duty as a Sangheili…
…but surely he didn't have to enjoy it so much, or so often.
Rtas 'Vadum tried not to be envious or petty, but surely it was not too much to ask for a few evenings alone with his mate? Evenings where his mate was actually awake and paying attention to him, not exhausted from breeding? Was it too much to expect the Arbiter to share what he was doing, with whom, and why? Or to save a little energy for his very neglected bondmate?
Rtas wished for evenings where he did not have to sleep in a cold bed and comfort himself with dreams…and as of late, his dreams had been of his deceased mate Kusovai. Kusovai, who considered Rtas the sun of his world, the heart of all he held dear… Kusovai who never let females distract him from his mate for more than an hour or so…
Rtas licked the stumps of his mandibles. This sort of thinking was not becoming of an admiral. His concern should belong to his fleets and his warriors, not his own personal life. His thoughts should be on Earth now, and its people, and the Sangheili that were stationed here as Ambassadors.
The door of the Phantom opened, revealing a pearl-armoured figure on the tarmac. Rtas squinted his eyes as he stepped off the ship. The other Sangheili wasn't tall enough to be N'tho, or old enough to be N'tho's mentor, Piro, and it was male, so it wasn't the nurse, Kya. It had to be Usze 'Taham.
Rtas was somewhat confused by the colour of Usze's armour, which was a warmer shade from the stark-white of Rtas' armour, but still pale. Sangheili culture had long considered white to be the colour of death; only those who qualified for the rank of Ultra were permitted to wear the shade of death itself. The fact that many Humans considered white to be a colour of peace was just another odd thing about Homo sapiens. The Councillors had settled on the creamy pearl colour as being enough like white to satisfy the Humans while being distinct enough from Ultra armour to keep the Ultras happy.
Rtas looked over the outfit appraisingly, and was about to open his mouth to greet Usze when the wind lifted Usze's cloak, and the words died in his throat.
*
Rtas 'Vadum was staring at him.
Usze 'Taham was surprised, and grateful for the helmet that hid any outward sign of his reaction. The reaction that always seemed to afflict him in Admiral Vadum's company. He turned his head, as if soaking in the beauty of the scene around him, while sliding his eyes sideways to watch the approaching Admiral.
Yes, the Admiral was definitely checking him out. Usze could feel the heat from the flush that rose to his face. He'd become used to N'tho's appreciative gazing—and the suggestive comments that usually accompanied it. In fact, he'd learned to love that kind of attention from his husband. The difference here, though, was that Rtas 'Vadum was assuredly not his husband.
Usze didn't want the fallout from a diplomatic incident if the Arbiter came to suspect that Rtas had a thing for Usze. Worse, though, was the fact that Usze had always believed that Rtas was an honourable man. The Arbiter was the one with the reputation for casual mating, not Rtas. He prayed to the Ancestors that he was wrong, and that he simply had his mind in the gutter from worrying about N'tho.
But Rtas was still gawking at him.
And his mind began wandering down roads untaken long ago.
By the Rings! Enough was enough. Usze looked Rtas straight in the eyes and said, "Welcome to Earth, Admiral. Is there any way in which I can be of assistance to you?"
Rtas cocked his head. His voice sounded strange—thick, almost choked—as he asked, "It's a pleasure, Ambassador 'Taham…but if I may ask…where did you get that cloak?"
"This?" Usze lifted the edge of the purple doarmir fur. "It was a gift."
A gift from N'tho. N'tho had kept the cloak on his bunk aboard Shadow of Intent and used it as a blanket. Usze had a very fond memory of gentle mating atop the cloak's soft fur, and under its warming embrace, and while it knotted into tangles around their legs…
But that had been only a single encounter, because then the Ascetics had taken Nitro prisoner, using him as bait to lure Usze into a trap. The Ascetic Order had not taken kindly to the Arbiter's actions as Sangheili leader, and they had ordered Usze to assassinate him; when Usze had refused, they'd put out a contract on his life.
Usze had worn the cape in an attempt to hide his distinctive claret armour while he moved through the corridors of Shadow of Intent to Fil Storamee's storeroom. He had intended to ask her for Minor Domo armour in an attempt to hide from the Ascetics within the fleet, until he learned that the Ascetics had N'tho captive. Fil had come up with the idea of loaning Usze her gravity hammer, smuggling it into the oncoming battle by shortening the handle and hiding the weapon under the doarmir cloak.
The cloak had gotten a bit sliced during that battle, and then soaked with blood, when the renegades got ahold of the hammer and used it to crush Usze's leg. N'tho had used the cloak as a bandage while Usze, N'tho, N'tho's father Piro, and the nurse Kya Pomor had fled Shadow of Intent for Earth. When Usze had finally awoken after cryo-sleep, surgery, and a few days of sedation, N'tho had given him the cloak—rinsed-out and stitched-up, only moderately worse for the wear.
I want you to have it, N'tho had said.
It was shorter now—only ankle-height, where before it had dragged on the floor behind him. The ragged edge had been cut off, and the excess fabric used to patch the holes which Toha 'Sumai's sword had gouged in it. It was no longer as regal and imposing as it had been before.
Granted, neither was Usze.
Usze walked with a cane and a pronounced limp, and would for the rest of his life. There was a time when he would have preferred death to the disgrace of life as a cripple. But when N'tho looked at him, all the other Sangheili saw was the hero who had saved his life. N'tho's boundless affection made Usze's life worthwhile.
Rtas' eyes narrowed. "Do you fancy yourself a Supreme Commander, Usze 'Taham?" He tilted his head. "That's a Fleet Master's cloak."
Was that Rtas' problem? The colour? Since when had Rtas of all people become so concerned about rank? "I fancy myself an Ambassador, Admiral 'Vadum. Sanghelios has not had Ambassadors to other planets since the coming of the Prophets, so there is no prescribed colour scheme for an Ambassador's cloak. However, it is Human custom to deck their ambassadors in finery. I apologize if you find the colour inappropriate, but as this is an alien world, I had precious little choice available to me."
Usze had never asked where, or how, N'tho had acquired a Fleet Master's cloak. A fine garment like this was beyond the means of a Minor Domo like N'tho. And the colour…
The cloaks were sold for a price that far exceeded the costs of the materials and craftsmanship—even though this particular cape was made of very fine fur indeed and stitched by a clever hand. The pricing was deliberate, so that a Sangheili of lower rank could not hope to afford such a garment, though a handful of lower-ranked Sangheili acquired the robes as gifts, or learned the skills to make their own.
To further set the elite apart, there were laws forbidding the lower ranks from owning cloaks in certain colours. Drab colours like brown and black were available to all; green was reserved for Priestesses, white for Councillors, yellow for Shipmasters…
Purple was the colour of only the highest echelon of the military.
It was no wonder that N'tho did not wear the cape. He would be sorely punished if he dared to try.
Usze suspected that the very incongruity of a Minor Domo possessing a Shipmaster's cloak was what had prevented anyone else from taking it away from him. Only the Ancestors knew the indignities that N'tho had suffered after being branded with the Mark of Punishment for his grandfather's crimes. Usze knew that certain other Sangheili had thought nothing of helping themselves to N'tho's rations, his armour, his personal belongings…
…but not the cloak. Doubtlessly they feared the wrath of whatever Commander had given it to him.
Rtas nodded and made a noncommittal "hm" noise under his breath. "We brought you a gift, Ambassador," he said, his voice brighter. "The Arbiter and I. He tells me that human food is very strange to our tastes, and we thought you might miss some of the delicacies from home. We brought what we thought would keep, for you and your associates to enjoy."
"My family," Usze said, gently but firmly. Every one of the six Sangheili who had permanent residence on Earth were linked by blood or marriage.
"Your family," Rtas repeated, smiling. His demeanor had changed entirely. This Rtas—secure in his own authority, firm yet kind—was the Rtas Usze had known.
As Usze introduced Rtas to the Human base commander, he wondered…what was it about his cloak that had upset Rtas so?
